Things That Never Change
by Edie K
Summary: What if Logan discovered Veronica in Lilly's room? A slightly AU twist on Leave it to Beaver. Logan POV, slight LV


"All right, son?"

All right? What a fucking joke. How could he possibly be all right? He had just been dragged into the Sheriff's department for questioning over his involvement in a murder. God, he could be a jerk but he drew the line several feet before murder. And, to mix things up a bit, the circumstantial evidence that lead to such questioning was brought to light by his current girlfriend. Logan was anxious to get home. He just had to see if the new Aaron Echolls would hand out punishment for suspicion of homicide in the same vein that the old one would have.

"Just another afternoon with Neptune's finest," Logan replied, walking past his father and toward the refrigerator.

"Look Logan, you have nothing to worry about. The only evidence they have against you is that you were in Neptune at the time of Lily's death. So were thousands of other people," Aaron reasoned.

Logan turned abruptly and looked his father straight in the eyes. "I have nothing to worry about because I. Didn't. Do. It. " For God's sake, had he really become that much of a jackass that everyone thought he was capable of murder?

Aaron crossed to him and placed a heavy arm on his shoulder. "I know you didn't, son."

"Okay, I was just about to ask what the patter was for the press conference. When is that scheduled?"

"There is no press conference," Aaron said, shaking his head. "The press will say what they want. All that matters is that I believe you. We may have our differences but I know that you would never lie to me about this. I trust you."

Suddenly, the arm on his shoulder felt much less heavy and much more comforting. Logan could not remember the last time he cried in front of his father. Ten years ago, maybe even longer. He knew that seeing him weak and vulnerable like that would give his dad even more power. But today, for the first time since Aaron had reinvented himself as "the family man", Logan thought his dad may actually be on his side. Not doing what was best for his career, not what was best for his image, but what was best for his son. His dad was the only one who actually trusted him. To be honest, it was the most overwhelming and shocking development of the day.

Logan hit his knees on the cold kitchen floor, his dad next to him.

Honestly, this was the stupidest idea ever. Why on earth had he let himself be talked into this? But his dad had insisted that Logan accompany him to the Kanes' party for the governor, as he didn't want Logan home by himself when he was so upset. The home of the victim of his alleged crime was the last place Logan wanted to be. Plus, there was the fact that it was Duncan's house as well. His best friend wasn't too pleased with him and even though he and Veronica were over, the reason that they were over probably wasn't going to close the gap between he and Duncan anytime soon.

The more he thought about all of Veronica's "evidence" against him, the more incensed he became. Sure, he lied about his alibi. At the time, it hardly seemed like it mattered though. He wasn't Lilly's murderer. And honestly, he could see how the whole fake alibi thing looked bad but really. He decided to leave Lilly a shot glass in her car and then two hours later, reconsider his generosity and decide to kill her? The fact that she trusted him so little, that asinine stories like that were more plausible than his account, made him just want to sit at home with a fifth of Jack.

But when his dad suggested the Kanes' party, he actually looked… concerned for Logan's well being. So the whiskey was delayed a few hours. Plus, Dad was right: no one knew yet that he was the newest suspect in the Lilly Kane murder case. The adults milling among the room filled with waiters and silver hors d'oeuvre trays regarded him as they normally did – a polite smile or greeting and then promptly leaning in to the person closest to them to discuss his father's infidelity or his mother's swan dive. He nodded in acknowledgement at the few of his classmates that were scattered about the room. Most of them were probably dragged there by parents who hoped to get them in the door of the governor's office for a summer internship.

He fidgeted with his watch as he checked the time. His dad had reiterated that he remain cool and calm during the party. If the Sheriff's department's suspicions did come out to the public, the fact that he appeared at the Kanes' acting normal would probably help his credibility. He tried his hardest to look casual as suggested. He also decided to give his dad a break for once and believe that these were tips his dad picked up in acting class and not from frequent use.

Where _was _his dad? He said they would stay about an hour and then Logan should find him and claim to be ill. Then they would both have an early out. He glanced about the room when his eyes stopped at movement down the hall. Right near the door to Lilly's room, which the last he had seen, was still preserved as though she would be back any day now. He watched as one of the waiters carelessly set her tray on the edge of a table and it hit the floor with a clang. The girl glanced around to see if anyone had noticed. Logan was primed to take delight in someone else's embarrassment and figured that when she bent to pick up the mess it would be his best opportunity to check out her ass. His eyes narrowed as she bypassed the small pastries on the floor and eased the door to Lilly's room open.

Yeah, he was not supposed to draw attention to himself and this was probably a really bad time for him to be caught in Lilly's room but he wasn't about to let some scraggly haired piece of white trash scrounge for something juicy to sell to _The Enquirer_. He angrily stalked across the large living room and toward Lilly's door. The little bitch was perched on Lilly's desk chair, unscrewing the vent when he threw open the door.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Logan demanded.

"Logan?" gasped the surprised girl.

"Veronica?" A million emotions flooded through him as she yanked off the dark wig and revealed the short blonde hair he came to know so well the last few weeks. His relief that Lilly's secrets were safe was quickly followed by confusion and anger. A lot of anger. "Why are you here?" he questioned.

"I could ask you the same thing," she snipped back.

"I'm an invited guest. I see the hired help entering a room that's off limits, I'm going to make sure that they don't take anything that does not belong to them." He glanced up at the vent with the loosened screws. "So what are you looking for?"

The more he glared at her, the more the events of the horrible day came rushing back to him. Her abandonment, her betrayal, the conversation at the- "You're looking for my letter?"

She tried to look hard and detached but the way she bit her lip before speaking let him know that she was feeling just as drained and vulnerable as he was. "If it's as exonerating as you say it is, then I figured…"

They just stared at one another for the longest time. "Open it up," he said.

Veronica handed him her wig before stepping back to the desk chair. Logan put his right hand on the back of the chair, holding it steadily in place for her to stand on. Veronica gave him a split second indiscernible look before stepping on the chair and prying of the vent. She stuck her hand in the duct and pulled out three videocassettes.

"Just these tapes," she said.

"Duncan has a camera we can play them on," Logan replied. Veronica nodded and crept to the partially open door. After glancing around, she announced, "Coast is clear" and quietly left the room, Logan at her heels.

Veronica clicked the door shut behind them while Logan opened up the cabinet that he knew Duncan stored his camera in and began to root around for all of the necessary cables. Even with his back to her, he could sense Veronica's agitation as she paced about the room. After collecting everything he needed, Logan proceeded to attach the video cables to the TV. "So here I am, helping you prove that I'm a murderer, right?"

"Logan-" Veronica replied wearily.

Logan turned away from the camera setup and rose off his knees to face her. "How could you think I was capable of something like that, Veronica?"

He thought she would back away but instead she held her ground as he advanced. "I didn't _want_ to think you were capable of murder and I'm not even sure I do now but I had say something. I had to make sure that I remain unbiased."

"Unbiased? God, Veronica, you've accused me of every other damn thing that's gone wrong in this town for the past year," Logan scoffed. He turned to go back to the camera setup. "Not exactly-" His words stopped when he felt one of her small hands wrap around his wrist.

"I had to make sure that my feelings for you weren't clouding my judgement on Lilly's case like they were clouding everything else in my mind."

Whoa. After the spectacular crash and burn of their relationship this afternoon, Logan assumed that he had not possessed all her thoughts like she had his. But now she admitted that he was apparently on her mind in ways other than suspect lists. Maybe they could solve this mystery together and still have a shot at being happy. "Veronica…"

"I'm really glad that this is the place you choose to have another tender stolen moment but I thought your secret was out."

Logan and Veronica's eyes flashed to the doorway to find Duncan standing there, seething at both of them.

"I'm not sure what the hell you two think you're doing but I don't think I want it happening in my room."

"The real murderer-" Veronica started to say.

"Oh yes, that's right. I'm a rapist, I'm a murder, who knows what felony I'll commit next?" Duncan ranted his face hard with anger.

"Relax Duncan," Logan smirked. "You're yesterday's news. There's a new number one suspect."

Duncan lost the anger instantly and his face was curious instead. "Who?"

"Yours truly."

Duncan looked at Logan in disbelief before turning the emotion toward Veronica. "No way. You can't possibly think that Logan would do that?"

"Can we just watch these tapes?" Veronica asked, exasperated.

"What tapes?" Duncan asked.

"We found these tapes in Lilly's air vent when I was looking for Logan's letter and they could be a clue," Veronica explained, handing the first one to Logan, who had popped the camera open.

Duncan still looked confused but quieted as a picture filled the TV screen.

"Is this my-"

"Your pool house," confirmed Veronica quietly.

Lilly enters the screen and flops on the bed. "Come here lover! Time to earn your keep!" she proclaimed gleefully.

"That's her pep squad uniform. This is the day she died," Veronica said.

Logan shook his head in disbelief. Yeah, he knew Lilly was cheating on him but he hardly expected her to sneak other guys into his own home.

The screen cut back and forth between two different shots and the three of them watched as Lilly looked up and appeared to discover the camera. "Where's she going?" asked Duncan as the video feed ended.

"The equipment, monitors and stuff, is behind the bookcase," Veronica said. She hazarded a glance at Logan. "The camera is in the ceiling fan."

Duncan was staring at him but Logan was too busy staring at Veronica to notice. "You found a camera? Is that why you took off? You thought I was some sort of pervert?"

"You have a camera in your pool house?" said Duncan.

"No! Well, yes but not one I knew about! I don't even take girls there that often," Logan replied.

"Let's see the next one," Veronica said. "This one's dated October 1st." Logan inserts the new tape and presses play.

This time, the screen is immediately filled with the image of Lilly, already writhing on top of her lover. Even with his eyes locked on the screen, Logan knows that Duncan's trying not to watch while looking for clues and Veronica's slightly embarrassed but too focused on business to let it get the best of her.

"That's not-" Duncan starts.

"No, it's not me!" snaps Logan. After a few moments, the couple on the bed switch positions and the camera switches angles.

"Oh my God!"

"Mr. Echolls?"

Logan's dad was one of those parents who tried to be the "cool dad" to all of his kids' friends. As his best friend, Duncan had been to his house a thousand times. Whenever he addressed his dad as Mr. Echolls, the response was always, "Call me Aaron." But Duncan was too respectful to ever comply.

And even as his face was frozen on the screen mid-thrust, Duncan couldn't forget his manners.

Veronica was breathing heavily and she sank down onto Duncan's bed. "Veronica?" asked Duncan, sitting next to her.

"I know what happened," she murmured. "I know what happened."

Veronica began to recount her speculated version of what happened but Logan wasn't listening. He didn't have to. He knew what she was spelling out. He just stared at the image on the screen.

"Could he really do it?" Duncan asked in a hushed voice.

Logan tried to snort at this idiotic question but the sound that came out instead sounded like someone was strangling him. Come to think of it, that was a little what he felt like right now.

Logan felt Veronica's eyes on him briefly before she continued. "He's psychotic. We once saw him beat a guy into a bloody pulp and then ask Logan how his day was. He-" She stopped sharply and Logan knew what she wanted to say. Duncan must have too because he didn't ask her to finish her thought.

The two of them made plans for Veronica to return home with the tapes for her dad while Duncan monitored Aaron's movements. They didn't include him but that was okay since he thought he might be experiencing a stroke.

Logan heard Duncan slip out the door. The image flickered off the screen as Veronica ejected the tape from its player and turned off the TV. For all the talking and planning she was just engaged in, she looked to be at complete loss of words now. And for a moment, he didn't feel quite so alone.

"Logan," she whispered, putting her hand on his elbow.

"Just go, Veronica," Logan said, squeezing the words out with great effort. They came out sounding harsher than he meant. Her grip loosened and her face fell. It wasn't that he didn't want her comfort. Or maybe he really _didn't _want her comfort. He had no clue what he wanted other than for her to deliver the damning evidence. "Get those tapes home," he said in the softest tone he could manage.

She nodded and crossed the room to leave.

"Be careful. I don't really want you dead. It was sarcasm."

She cracked a little smile and left. Logan stared back to the television. Even though the tape was with Veronica, he could still see the image of his father burned on the idle set.

Logan was snapped out of his staring spell by an incessant ringing. Not his ring tone. He glanced around the room, disoriented until he spotted Duncan's phone flashing on the bed. Glancing at the caller I.D., he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Veronica's home number appear. She made it.

"Veronica?"

"Duncan?" asked the vaguely familiar voice of Keith Mars.

"No, Logan. Where's Veronica?"

Keith hesitated a moment before answering. "She called thirty minutes ago saying she was on her way home and she should have been here by now. I called her cell phone and no answer. I'm tracking her location right now."

Duncan burst back in the room. "Is that Veronica?" he asked Logan.

"Her dad. She's not home yet."

Duncan paled. "I can't find him. I asked everyone, I've looked twice."

"What's going on?" Keith demanded.

"Duncan can't find Aaron."

"The signal's not moving…" Keith said, more to himself than to Logan. "I have to go, I have to get to her."

Then the line went dead.

"And Logan," said Duncan, eyes wide. "The valet still has his keys."

"Come on," said Logan. "We have to find her. He obviously already has."

Both boys headed for the front of the house, bumping into guests and tables as they hurried out.

"Duncan!" chided Celeste as her son almost sent an elderly lady sprawling.

"Later Mom!" he yelled back and they made it through the front doors. "Shit. My car's blocked in."

Logan grabbed his father's key ring off the valet station. "We'll take the Lexus."

"Hey!" yelled the startled attendant.

"Don't worry, you'll thank me for the hell of a story you can sell to Access Hollywood," Logan called as he sprinted down the driveway.

In the amount of time it took them to pick out the silver sedan from all of the foreign made vehicles in the lot, they probably could have gotten the staff to move all of the cars from the driveway to give Duncan's SUV a clear path. Finally, Duncan let out a cry of success and Logan rushed across the way, scrapping against expensive cars and setting off at least two car alarms in the process.

"Are you okay to drive?" asked Duncan. Logan answered by unlocking the doors, jumping in, and starting the ignition. Duncan was barely in the car when Logan was shifting it into gear and tearing down the driveway.

"Turn right, man. That's the quickest way from here to her house," Duncan said.

"Except," said Logan. "That she now lives in an apartment that's this way." He made a sharp left turn, the tires squealing.

Duncan shifted uncomfortably and pulled out his cell phone. "Who are you calling?"

"I just keep hoping this time she'll answer," Duncan said, dialing the phone. The car was silent until Logan heard the faint sound of Veronica's voicemail message.

Logan applies a little more pressure to the pedal a little harder and the car buzzed along the twisty roads at 85. Duncan clutched at the dash but didn't say anything about the high speeds. Logan slipped back into his own thoughts. Maybe Aaron hadn't found her. Maybe instead he had gone ahead to her apartment to wait for her there. Just please don't let him…

"What are we going to do?"

Logan looked at Duncan in disbelief. "We're going to find Veronica."

"But what if- what if he's there? What are we going to do?"

"We'll take care of him." Logan had no idea what that meant. And he had no idea what they would do if they found him. But he wasn't going to let him take Veronica like he did Lilly. No matter how much both girls had betrayed him.

"She's my sister you know," Duncan said.

Logan blinked. "Yes Duncan. I dated her for two years. I picked up that fact."

"Not Lilly."

Logan blinked again. "What?"

"My dad and her mom. That's why I broke up with her."

"But Shelley's party-"

"She told you about that?"

Logan let out a dry laugh. How much more fucked up were things going to get tonight? "For Christ's sake, Duncan, do you really think this is the right time to discuss something like this?"

Duncan didn't reply, to which Logan was eternally grateful. What the hell was wrong with him? Were inappropriately timed revelations a symptom of his epilepsy or just a social deficiency?

"Logan? There's something in the road up ahead. I think it's a person. Slow down."

There is someone in the road. Duncan may not have been sure but Logan see as clear as if it were still day. The dark blazer and stylishly cut pants came into view. He can see perfectly blown dry hair, freshly colored to hide spreading gray atop a face that was weathered by the sun. He doesn't slow down.

It's when he saw the thick, black, Italian leather belt that he slams the gas pedal all the way down to the floor.


End file.
